Craft Animations, Gamecaster Announce Virtual Cinematography Solution

Craft Animations and Gamecaster have announced a hardware and software bundle called Craft Camera Tools for GCS3, a solution for virtual cinematography intended to allow for real-time camera controls within Autodesk 3ds Max and Maya. Craft Camera Tools is designed to eliminate the time and cost involved in keyframing virtual cameras in 3D animated scenes. The software and camera control hardware work together for the direction of animation through the viewfinder of the GCS3 virtual camera controller itself. The two companies have also developed a line of camera tools for use with the GCS33 virtual camera control hardware: the GCS3 FreeCam and GCS3 TripodCam allow for physical control of the virtual camera's pan, tilt, zoom, crane and dolly, walk-cycle and explosion motion, as well as spline control motion. The companies say that professional users of the toolset for 3ds Max and Maya have reported reduced production times by up to 90 percent when creating natural motion paths for 3D vehicles or moving cameras. "Craft's Camera Tools utilizes the GCS3 virtual camera control hardware as an entirely new input device that allows real-time capture and automatic playback features, without the need to render," says Luigi Tramontana, founder and head of research for Craft Animations. "The new onset of virtual camera operation, through Craft Camera Tools for GCS3, further enables artists to overcome current limitations and workflow issues at a fraction of the cost."